


Sorry's Just a Word

by Raine_Wynd



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Foul Language, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 03:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raine_Wynd/pseuds/Raine_Wynd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gages make their apologies to Raleigh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sorry's Just a Word

**Author's Note:**

> Slight rework of a fic I posted to Tumblr.

_They missed the freaking kaiju._

How the hell did that happen? In the conn-pod, Bruce and Trevor look at each other, the Drift mirroring their incredulity.

"How fast is that damn thing?" Bruce demands, checking in with LOCCENT.

"Faster than you can run," the tech tells them, and still they give chase, hoping to beat the odds again. They’re the most experienced jaeger pilots, but they’re in a Mark I jaeger. Speed and agility are not a Mark I’s strong points, and the kaiju are getting bigger, faster, stronger. Romeo Blue has Gatling gun and a hell of a power move, but this…this was unprecedented. It doesn't help that Romeo's built like the American tank she is and is the heaviest jaeger in service, but it's always been an advantage before, more power behind their battering blows. Maybe that's why the kaiju avoided them, the Gages will later think, but now...now they're just trying to run fast enough to catch up, but the gap's widening before they can get within range.

LOCCENT calls them in as the Beckets take up the battle call in Gipsy Danger. The Gages can’t do anything - they’re too far away to help and not fast enough to move in before Yancy’s killed. 

Later, when the shouting’s mostly over, the Gages track down Raleigh in the Shatterdome’s medical bay. Raleigh’s conscious, but hooked up to enough lines and monitors that tell the twins he’s likely drugged to the gills with pain medication. Burn bandages line his left side, indicating where the drive suit burned into his skin, and Bruce flinches at the sight before he winces, the move reminding him that he's crashing from the adrenaline of being in Romeo Blue and from a headache the adrenaline didn't burn away.

"Look, man, we’re really sorry," Trevor tells Raleigh. "We tried beating that thing but the fucker went underwater and slipped past us."

Raleigh looks at the younger Gage twin before raising his head slightly and directing his gaze at Bruce. “Tell me that again when you’re both not hung over,” he says bluntly.

Bruce shudders at the hate he sees in the younger pilot. “Listen, Raleigh, you’re on drugs, you don’t know what you’re saying.” But he knows Raleigh's aware of their hard-partying reputation, and through the headache Bruce has, he has a vague memory of Raleigh turning down the invitation to hang with them the night before.

Raleigh laughs. “Percoset does nothing for me except make me forget to censor my mouth. You fuckers cost me my brother. He was in the Drift with me when he got eaten alive. So go ahead and drown your sorrows. I accept that you’re sorry. Maybe the next time you fight kaiju they’ll go after you. Hope you’re sober when that happens. Now go the fuck away.”

Trevor and Bruce stare at Raleigh a moment longer before exiting the room, still in sync, still very much hungover and trying to hide it. Raleigh’s words haunt them, but they don’t change too much, too busy trying to convince the brass that it was just one missed kaiju, they have an old jaeger that’s heavy and slow, they deserve a new one that’s faster and better armed…but the Gages are fighting a system that doesn’t forgive mistakes. A year and a half later, they die in Romeo Blue fighting a kaiju off Seattle, and if they had any thoughts between them about the Beckets when the kaiju tears off their conn-pod and goes straight for them, it’s lost in the Drift.


End file.
